Marvel's Thor is Now a Woman

In news that will probably baffle comic book fans and normal people alike, it was revealed that Thor (yes, the Avenger) is no longer worthy of his title and will be replaced by a woman in an upcoming comic storyline.

Yes, you are allowed to unleash a collective "What?!" right about now.

The announcement came, of all places, on 'The View' and as you'd expect, the hosts seemed to do everything in their power to not dwell on the subject (they apparently quickly changed the subject to Airbus tickets). So before we go any further, we can all agree that Marvel shouldn't let 'The View' announce major comic book news, right?

.@Marvel announces that Thor is no longer worthy of Mjolnir, and now a woman will be wielding the mighty Uru Hammer! #TheView

Although specific details are scarce at the moment, here's what we do know (and what we can assume):

The new series will apparently be called 'Thor' (contrary to early reports that it would be called 'Lady Thor'). The series will be written by Jason Aaron and drawn by Russell Dauterman. What we don't know is how (or if) this will affect Aaron's current (and truly exceptional) 'Thor: God of Thunder' series.

The series will supposedly come about because Thor makes some kind of colossal error and finds himself unworthy of wielding Mjolnir. As 'The View' co-host Whoopi Goldberg puts it:

It’s a huge day in the Marvel Universe. Thor, the God of Thunder, he messed up, and he’s no longer worthy to hold that damn hammer of his. For the first time in history, that hammer is being held by a woman. That’s right. Thor is a woman!

So who, exactly, is this new Thor? One educated guess is that she's Angela, a former 'Spawn' character who recently arrived in the Marvel universe thanks to a legal battle over who owned the rights to use her (the only thing weirder than comic book storylines is the stories behind them). Fans have wondered how she would be integrated into the complicated Marvel mythos, especially since she was recently retconned into being Thor and Loki's long-lost sister. Once you cut through all of the nonsense, it makes perfect sense that she'd be the star of a 'Lady Thor' series.

However, Goldberg mentions that Lady Thor models herself after the hero after being saved by him and Angela is not a character who needs saving. Not to mention the fact that Marvel has found plenty of recent success in creating truly human and down-to-earth characters stuck in extraordinary situations. A new character picking up the hammer is right up their alley.

The inscription on Thor’s hammer reads ‘Whosoever holds this hammer, if HE be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor.' The new Thor continues Marvel’s proud tradition of strong female characters like Captain Marvel, Storm, Black Widow and more. And this new Thor isn’t a temporary female substitute – she’s now the one and only Thor, and she is worthy!

There are plenty of other female Asgardian warriors in the pages of Marvel comics, including Sif, Frigga, Valkyrie and Thor's three warrior daughters who were introduced in flashforwards to thousands of years in the future (comic books!), a full-on female Thor is completely new. We'll update this post as we learn more, but it looks like a major cornerstone of the Marvel universe is in for a pretty massive shake-up.